Maple Leafs rebound to even series vs. Blue Jackets

Auston Matthews scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Toronto Maple Leafs went on to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Toronto.


Reuters | Updated: 05-08-2020 04:36 IST | Created: 05-08-2020 04:36 IST
Maple Leafs rebound to even series vs. Blue Jackets

Auston Matthews scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Toronto Maple Leafs went on to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 21 shots to earn his third career playoff shutout as the Maple Leafs tied the best-of-five playoff qualifying series at one game each.

John Tavares added a third-period goal for the Maple Leafs, who dominated play for much of the game. Morgan Rielly scored into an empty net at 19:17 of the third with an assist from Matthews. Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 1:52 to play in the game after taking an awkward fall in the Maple Leafs' zone. His head appeared to hit the knee of Columbus's Oliver Bjorkstrand as he fell.

Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves. The Blue Jackets survived the first two power plays of the game in the first period and had a couple of good chances while killing off the first penalty.

Columbus had an unsuccessful power play late in the first. Toronto had a 15-6 advantage in first-period shots on goal. The Maple Leafs had two early power plays in the second period, but were foiled repeatedly by Korpisalo. Columbus defenseman Seth Jones helped out during one barrage, clearing a puck out of the crease.

Toronto took its 1-0 lead when Matthews redirected a return pass from Zach Hyman at 16:00 of the second period. Matthews had lugged the puck from the Toronto end to start the play that finished with the it being deflected over Korpisal's right shoulder. Toronto led 29-12 in shots on goal after two periods.

Tavares, who had been foiled repeatedly by Korpisalo, scored on a breakaway at 4:56 of the third period on a breakout after Andersen stopped a close-in shot by Zach Werenski as Columbus pressed the Toronto goal. It was the eighth shot of the game for Tavares. Travis Dermott and William Nylander earned assists.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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